Siegfried, James and Tristan – our three favourite veterinarians – always have their work cut out for them at their country practice in the verdant Yorkshire Dales. Although life is never less than testing, there is always great satisfaction in the valuable work they do.

So as life moves slowly through peacetime and wartime, why not join us in a simpler, more tranquil time, as we help the sick and injured back to health, whether they have two legs, four legs, hooves, beaks or paws.

Brian Hayes is one of the most accomplished essayists active today--a claim supported not only by his prolific and continuing high-quality output but also by such honors as the National Magazine Award for his commemorative Y2K essay titled "Clock of Ages," published in the November/December 1999 issue of "The Sciences "magazine. (The also-rans that year included Tom Wolfe, Verlyn Klinkenborg, and Oliver Sacks.) Hayes's work in this genre has also appeared in such anthologies as "The Best American Magazine Writing, The Best American Science and Nature Writing, "and "The Norton Reader." Here he offers us a selection of his most memorable and accessible pieces--including "Clock of Ages"--embellishing them with an overall, scene-setting preface, reconfigured illustrations, and a refreshingly self-critical "Afterthoughts" section appended to each essay.